CHAPEL HILL, NC - In families where both parents work outside the home, fathers who use a wide variety of words chatting with their children may be strengthening their language skills, a study shows.  Researchers who watched two-year-olds interacting with their parents found the more diverse vocabulary a dad used in these encounters, the more highly-developed the child's language skills were at age three.  "It seems to be important for fathers to be talking to their kids and to be using a variety of words to their child," Nadya Pancsofar, a graduate research assistant at the University of North Carolina and study co-author, told Reuters Health.  "Our study was one of the first to look at the contribution of fathers' vocabulary to children's language development."  Pancsofar and co-investigator Dr. Lynne Vernon-Feagans analyzed information from a study of 120 children recruited from 11 childcare centers.  Data were available for 92 families when the children were two years old, and for 67 families when the children turned three.  The key factors were the diversity of the father's vocabulary, the mother's education, and the quality of day care, researchers found.

BIRMINGHAM, AL - Despite long-term global warming, parts of the U.S. this winter are experiencing cooler and dryer weather - and the eye irritation that often accompanies it.  "The tear film bathing the cornea and outer eye evaporates faster in dry conditions, which causes burning, tearing, redness, and discomfort," said Adam Gordon, associate professor at the University of Alabama School of Optometry.  "This makes eyes more susceptible to allergies, since environmental allergens aren’t washed out effectively."  In addition to the outside air, enclosed spaces with dry heat, such as shopping malls, tend to aggravate dry, sensitive eyes.  Artificial tears can provide temporary relief, but if symptoms persist, switching from contacts to glasses, administering prescription eye drops, and blocking tear ducts may be necessary, Gordon said.

ATLANTA - MedPage Today disclosed the rate of fatal falls among men and women 65 and older rose significantly in a decade, reported U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention investigators.  Accidental falls account for an estimated 1.8 million annual emergency department visits for older Americans, and falls are the leading cause of trauma deaths in this age group - more than 13,700 fatalities among seniors, wrote Dr. Judy Stevens, and colleagues in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.  In addition to death, injuries sustained in a fall can lead to disability, nursing home admissions, and direct medical costs, investigators reported.  In 2000 the direct medical cost tied to falls among adults in the U.S. were about $19 billion.  Many falls could have been prevented if older adults exercised regularly, had their medications reviewed to reduce side effects and interactions that could lead to falls, had yearly eye exams, and took steps to reduce fall hazards in the home, wrote editors in a postscript.

BALTIMORE - HealthDay News noted people who couldn't stomach a medical study requiring them to give up chocolate ended up helping science, anyway.  These chocoholics' blood platelets displayed a reduced tendency to clot together in dangerous clumps, researchers found.  The finding may explain why chocolate can be good for the heart.  "Chocolate that's flavonoid-rich, that's dark, that's good quality, that's not traveling with all of its bad friends like sugar and fat, probably has some fairly potent pro-health benefits, although not as strong as aspirin," said lead researcher Diane Becker, professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.  Her belief: "Not all chocolate is bad."  Another expert cautioned chocolate is just one sweet piece of the dietary puzzle, however.  The study is "interesting and in the right direction but the overall diet is what people ought to be concerned about."

EVANSTON, IL - HealthDay News noted many Americans, including college educated, have trouble interpreting instructions on prescription drug labels, a study found.  Only 34.7% of people with lower literacy interviewed could determine the number of pills to take daily when faced with "take two tablets by mouth twice daily," stated the report in Annals of Internal Medicine; 9% of interviewees had trouble with "take one tablet by mouth once each day."  The problem is most common with "two tablets twice daily," noted Michael S. Wolf, assistant professor of medicine at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine.  That’s often misinterpreted to mean "two tablets a day," he said, but the number of misinterpretations rises with the amount of numbers in the instructions, Wolf said.  "Take one teaspoon twice a day for seven days" is especially confusing, he noted.  It's an important issue because more Americans are taking more medications, said lead researcher Terry C. Davis, professor of medicine and pediatrics at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center.  "The topic resonates because most people are taking some medication and taking them safely is important," she said.